Running lights on
6. Other Obstacles: 8. Electronics:
A yacht over 12 metres in length is required to have a bell and a whistle for sound signals. Under 12 metres you can have some other means of making sound signals.
Appropriate sound signals must be made when in or near an area of restricted visibility. down in fog, so if you can keep away from the shipping lanes, it is one less thing to worry about.
Ships need deep water so set your course in shallower waters to avoid them. When you are in busy shipping waters that have traffic separation zones you can keep to the inshore zones where the big ships should not go. When I did a cruise from Southampton, England, to Oslo, Norway, we had fog much of the way and it was quite a relief to use the inshore zone when passing through the busy Dover Straits. It took some of the danger away, but you can only use these zones if you are less than 20 metres (66 feet) in length. If you are larger, then the Colregs demand that you mix in with shipping traffic. Pay attention to ship traffic at all times, including ferries that may be crossing the inshore zones in order to come into port.
Farther into the North Sea on our voyage, we had to cross the shipping lanes in order to make land. Colregs dictate that we traverse shipping lanes at right angles which let us get across as quickly as possible. Then there were oil rigs and platforms that had to be avoided, and these days the North Sea is also littered with offshore wind farms that take up much of the potentially safe navigating area for small craft. These wind farms are coming to U.S. waters and they should be considered serious hazards in fog. We had two people on watch the whole time, but the tension was palpable until we reached clearer waters. that the targets are shown relative to your own heading. Put the bearing cursor onto the target and you can then see if the bearing of the target is changing. If it is not changing significantly, then there is a risk of collision and you need to take action according to the Colregs. This sounds relatively easy when you have a single target around you, but when there are multiple targets, this is the time to slow down so that you have more time to determine what each target is doing. Also, it only works when the radar picture is stabilized with autopilot steering. If your radar has a split-screen capability, then use one display to remain on the 6-mile range and one set to a 2-mile range. The former is for early detection of targets and the second is to make collision avoidance manoeuvres.
These days, with modern electronics, keeping on course is pretty straightforward with GPS positioning and a chart plotter. The accuracy is more than adequate for use in zero visibility. You might want to set the course to pass close to a buoy or two, which could give you the reassurance that the GPS is working and sighting the buoy can also allow you to see just what the range of visibility is. Keeping your depth sounder on is also an extra check, and smart practice.
For navigating in fog, the electronic chart should provide most of the answers, but at some stage you still have to make the transition from the electronic picture to visual navigation as you approach land or you enter harbor. This is where you resort to some of the techniques that were used before electronics came into common use.
When making landfall, set the landfall point to one side of